New VC firm K Fund to invest €50 million in Spanish startups

K Fund, a new VC firm based in Madrid, has launched today with a €50 million purse that it plans to invest in Spanish early stage startups.

The new fund will be “helping entrepreneurs in anything that they might need at the early stage, which is usually the hardest time for a company,” said K Fund’s Iñaki Arrola, also of Vitamina K VC.

Beyond early stage companies, the new firm has a view to co-investing with other VCs at later stages. It will be looking at startups in areas like fintech, edtech, adtech, security, and logistics.

So far K Fund has invested in three companies: Madrid-based clinic supplies marketplace Salupro as part of a €6 million round; energy management startup Lucera from Valencia; and social app Hooks which recently took part in Techstars in Chicago. It plans to build up a portfolio of 20 to 25 companies in the coming years.

K Fund has raised investment from public institutions like EIF and private investors. The team is led by Iñaki Arrola; Ian Noel, formerly of Bonsai Venture Capital; Pablo Ventura, formerly of JME Ventures; Carina Szpilka, ex-CEO of ING Direct; Ignacio Larrú, professor at IE Business School; and Jaime Novoa. Disclosure: Novoa used to work for Tech.eu.

“We want to help build disruptive companies that understand the key aspects to win in a digital era: agility, continuous learning, talent and client focus,” said Szpilka.

The firm said in its announcement that it believes the technology sector in Spain is at its most lucrative and innovative, creating huge opportunities for K Fund. It cites successful funding rounds like Barcelona’s Typeform and exits such as Bilbao’s Ticketbis, acquired by eBay.

“We’re witnessing a new generation of Spanish entrepreneurs that have a global mind set and ambition from day one, who are not afraid of American or European competitors, and who have an amazing ability to execute at scale,” said Noel.

K Fund added that it is using a group of “operating partners” to advise the firm on things like business development, design, engineering, and marketing before making an investment.